Dynamics of secretory membrane trafficking

Abstract

The study of intracellular membrane trafficking and organelle dynamics has been revolutionized with the advent of GFP technology, which allows individual proteins to be tagged with GFP and monitored in living cells. Using GFP-based techniques such as selective photobleaching and time-lapse imaging of different GFP color variants, it is now possible to address a host of questions related to protein retention within the organelles, the origin and fate of transport intermediates, and the extent of trafficking through different transport pathways. This has provided unexpected new insights into the organization and function of secretory and endocytic pathways within cells.